Slaughter of the innocent

Monday evening in Manchester, England, the slaughter of the innocent continued.

This time, 22 folks attending an Ariana Grande concert were killed when a suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device at the end of the show. Dozens more were injured. Most of the attendees were “tweens” — youngsters just entering their teenage years.

The victims were guilty of nothing, other than being alive. There was absolutely no reason they should have been the target of any group.

ISIS has claimed credit for the slaughter, saying one of its “soldiers” carried out the attack.

This is the age of mindless terrorism. Monday’s attack certainly served the cause of no religion deserving of recognition by any civilized society. Its adherents deserve swift and cruel deaths. The barbarity of Monday’s slaughter pointed out once again that nations must act in concert to wipe this menace from the Earth — nothing is more important than ridding the world of ISIS, al-Qaida and all of the variants of blood-thirsty hooliganism.

While we mourn Monday’s victims, their loss and pain should spur a new effort by civilized countries to find and destroy the leaders of the terrorist organizations that are inspiring and supporting these attacks.

We must be even more vigilant to protect ourselves from these terrorists, even more diligent in rooting out and destroying them.